Right then, I’m going to take my leave. It was a hugely frustrating night for Wolves, who defended well but for whom Adama Traoré was quiet and Raúl Jiménez absolutely silent, but Sevilla are worthy semi-finalists. Now Manchester United must find a way to stop them in Sunday’s semi-final. Meanwhile, tomorrow it’s Champions League time. More football! Yay!
Here’s Paul Doyle’s match report again. Bye!
Here’s Paul Doyle’s match report from the MSV Arena:
Wolves’ epic season ended in agonising style as Lucas Ocampos headed in an 88th-minute goal to send Sevilla into a Europa League semi-final against Manchester United. There can be no begrudging the Spaniards their win, given how much they dominated, but this quarter-final might have turned out very differently if Raúl Jiménez had not had a penalty saved in the 11th minute and if the referee had ordered a retake after a Sevilla defender encroached.
Before this game Nuno and his players spoke of their pride at reaching Wolves’ first European quarter-final since 1972 and of their determination to venture even farther. Getting to this stage was no small feat: this campaign began last July but, in a deeper sense, it started with the appointment of Nuno in May 2017. Wolves had just finished 15th in the Championship, squashed glumly between Barnsley and Ipswich Town. Nuno built an identity that has earned promotion, two top-half finishes in the Premier League and this glamorous date with the Europa’s League most decorated club.
Much more here:
Nuno Espirito Santo has a chat with BT Sport:
Frustration. In the last minutes, something that’s happened to us too many times. Requires focus on the set piece. But proud of the boys. We played a tough team and we were organised. We had moments. Small details, small margins. Yeah, we came this far, now it’s over. Now let’s rest and look to the future.
It wasn’t about [waiting for] extra time. They made us run, and we made a big effort to control, but of course there were players on the pitch that gave everything, and the legs and the brain don’t work so good. But like I said before, I think we must be proud of ourselves. Admitting we made some mistakes during the season that we have to rectify to compete at a higher level. We must work harder on small details so we become stronger, and we become able to compete against such a good team.
A word to our fans back in Wolverhampton: we missed them. Everything could be different with their presence. The pandemic didn’t allow us to be together, but for sure the future is bright for us.
The interviewer tries repeatedly to rake up some kind of VAR controversy about the penalty, which might have been retaken had the officials applied the letter of the law:
I didn’t see the images. But if you tell me that, VAR should allow that. But I didn’t seem the images so I cannot give a fair opinion of it. Now we cannot do anything about it. It’s one more detail that will make us even more sad than we are now.
Shakhtar Donetsk beat Basel 4-1 in the other quarter-final, and will play Internazionale on Monday.
Final score: Wolves 0-1 Sevilla
90+5 mins: It’s all over! Wolves are out, and Sevilla will play Manchester United in Sunday’s first semi-final!
Updated
90+4 mins: Wolves’ season started well over 12 months ago, and will end in about 30 seconds. They’re all over the place in defence at the moment, but Vázquez can’t take advantage.
Updated
90+3 mins: Banega has a shot deflected over, and slowly heads to the corner flag for the set piece.
90+2 mins: Ocampos takes the ball to the corner flag. On BT Sport Robbie Savage praises Banega’s cross for the goal but really I think it was no better than OK, but made to look good by Ocampos’s excellent header.
90+1 mins: Into the first of four minutes of stoppage time, and Ruben Neves is booked for fouling Munir.
90 mins: The timing is cruel, but that goal has been coming, and for a long time. Sevilla have been outstanding in possession, and enterprising in attack.
89 mins: All change for Sevilla in the mononym department as Suso comes off, and Munir comes on.
GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Sevilla (Ocampos, 88 mins)
And finally Sevilla take the lead! The corner is played quickly back to Banega, whose cross picks out Ocampos, who flicks a lovely header across goal and in at the far post!
Updated
87 mins: A lovely pass plays Ocampos in on the right, but his low cross is turned behind.
84 mins: A double change for Sevilla, Franco Vázquez replacing Jordán and Luuk de Jong coming on for En-Nesyri.
83 mins: Chance for Sevilla! A corner is curled in from the left and En-Nesyri totally fluffs his header when really he should be scoring, and in the end it comes off the defender behind him for another corner.
81 mins: A couple of promising moments for Wolves, but first Neto on the right then Jota on the left get chances to cross and then mess them up.
79 mins: They might not yet have scored, but the good news for Sevilla is they’ve seen off Traoré. Diogo Jota replaces him.
77 mins: Banega floats his shot over the wall, but it lacks the pace and the accuracy to beats Patricio, who palms over!
Updated
76 mins: Banega shoots high and wide from the edge of the area, but is taken out by Coady during the follow-through and can have another go from the free-kick.
75 mins: Tonight’s other Europa League quarter-final is considerably less tense: Shakhtar have just extended their lead over Basel to three.
⚽ ALAN PATRICK MAKES IT 3-0! ⚡#ShakhtarBasel #UEL https://t.co/A91oswpP64 pic.twitter.com/vcXkU12zin
— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) August 11, 2020
73 mins: Nearly a thing for Wolves! Traoré crosses from the right, but Jiménez can’t quite get on the end of it. It’s probably as close as they’ve come to a goal this half, which is to say, not very close.
71 mins: Pedro Neto is coming on for João Moutinho.
70 mins: Jiménez throws himself into Diego Carlos in an attempt to stop the defender clearing the ball. I thought that was an extremely poor challenge, probably a booking. The referee waves play on.
66 mins: Another great chance! Suso sends in a fine left-footed cross from the right, and Koundé heads over when brilliantly placed in the middle!
65 mins: Even Banega can always be relied upon to send his passes into unexpected areas, and he proves the point here by thumping the ball into the back of the referee’s head.
62 mins: Another great chance! En-Nesyri spins on the edge of the area, pushes the ball past one defender and then another, and then prods goalwards from six yards, but it’s a bit feeble and Rui Patricio saves!
Updated
59 mins: Close! Navas plays in Ocampos, who pulls back to Jordán, who at the very last moment is distracted by Dendoncker’s arrival from somewhere over his left shoulder and takes his eye off the ball! That was as good a chance as the Spaniards have created.
Updated
57 mins: Vinagre gets down the left, does a little individual stepoverthon and eventually passes back to Moutinho, who tees up Neves, who mishits his shot.
55 mins: “I totally agree with your criticism of Jimenez, but why can’t referees enforce the rules?” ponders James Palmer, still disgruntled about the penalty. “The keeper encroached, therefore it should have been a retake.” The keeper didn’t encroach - he had a toe on the line, which is all he needed - and though a couple of defenders were a few inches inside the penalty area when the kick was taken, I can’t get as excited as BT Sport’s team have been about how terrible a VAR oversight this was.
53 mins: Wolves finally get the ball deep into Sevilla’s half, and win a throw-in. Doherty flings it on, Boly flicks it on, Jiménez is punished for outmuscling a defender. It’s the most stereotypical English attack possible.
50 mins: Saïss sprints over to challenge Suso on the right flank and keeps sprinting until he sprints right into Suso. It’s an odd challenge, and he’s booked for it.
48 mins: The second half has started as the first concluded, with Sevilla having a lot of the ball but few chances. They have just won their second corner of the half, and lead 4-0 on overall corner count.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! Sevilla have kicked off.
The players are back out and ready for action. Sevilla will kick off, any moment now.
“Can’t help but feel that Wolves have let their chance of an upset slip away with that penalty miss,” fears Robert Lin. Let’s not go completely overboard: they have only had 24% of possession, but they’re 2-2 on shots on target, are defending pretty well, and Sevilla are genuinely terrified of Traoré. There could be other chances. But yes, a very significant opportunity missed. And Bounou didn’t even have to make a good save.
Here’s some half-time reading for you:
Half time: Wolves 0-0 Sevilla
45+1 mins: That’s all for now! Wolves missed a golden chance to go in front, and since then Sevilla have made them regret it. But no goals as yet.
45 mins: Traoré gets a brief sniff of the ball, before Jordan turns up to take it away from him. Other than, you know, letting him run most of the length of the pitch before fouling him in the penalty area, Sevilla have controlled him well.
42 mins: Joan Jordán sends in a 20-yarder that goes straight to Patricio but dips awkwardly on its way and is well held.
41 mins: Vinagre passes to Jiménez, who spins past Koundé beautifully and sets off towards the penalty area, but the Sevilla defender manages to get back and nick the ball.
Updated
40 mins: Sevilla are probing again. Ever Banega is absolute class, a jukebox of enterprising passes.
37 mins: Sevilla probe, skimming the ball around the edge of the Wolves area. Eventually Ocampos gets into the box, shifts onto his right foot and curls a shot towards, but just beyond, the far post.
Updated
35 mins: Sevilla have had the best of the last five minutes or so, but Wolves have defended stoutly and haven’t conceded a clear chance. Vinagre gets down the left, but crosses straight to Bounou.
32 mins: Ocampos fights to win a bouncing ball just outside the Wolves penalty area, but is robustly tackled. He goes down, screaming and palming the turf, but the referee ignores him so he gets up.
28 mins: The shot count keeps rising. This time the ball drops to João Moutinho, who flicks it up with his right thigh and then hammers a high, dipping effort goalwards from about 35 yards. It doesn’t dip anywhere near enough.
Updated
26 mins: A lovely pass through to En-Nesyri, who miscues his left-foot cross-shot and sends it skewing wide of goal.
24 mins: Suso crosses from the right, and beyond the far post Ocampos cocks his left foot and prepares for a half-volley goalwards, but Matt Doherty spots the danger and careers onto the scene, bundling player and ball behind and getting a goal-kick for his pains.
Updated
21 mins: Youssef En-Nesyri heads over from a right-wing cross. Again a difficult chance, and it would have taken an epic header to score, but one for the shots-off-target stats.
17 mins: An excellent start to the match: signs of attacking intent from both teams, and signs that Adama Traoré has got his sprinting shoes on.
14 mins: Now Rui Patricio is in action, diving to his left to push out Suso’s low, skimming drive. That really was the dictionary definition of a rubbish penalty from Jiménez. Neves also had a chance as the ball bounced around the penalty area after the save, but blasted it high and wide.
It's saved!
13 mins: Jiménez trots up to the spot and casually sidefoots it to his right; Bounou refuses to commit himself before the kick is taken, and is left with an easy save!
Updated
Penalty to Wolves!
11 mins: What they eventually do is give it away to Dendoncker, who feeds Traore, who zooms down the pitch before being brought down by Diego Carlos as he reaches the penalty area!
Updated
10 mins: Sevilla are having a bit of a spell, though they’re still trying to work out what to do with it.
7 mins: Willy Boly is down, and receiving simultaneous treatment from two physios. He doesn’t look terribly pained, mind.
6 mins: The BT Sport commentators, who have the benefit of being able to see the entire pitch, keep seeing Adama Traore lurking just one good pass away from a run on goal, promisingly.
Updated
4 mins: Another not-very-good Wolves effort, as Ruben Neves is fouled, the free-kick lifted into the area, and Dendoncker volleys over the bar. It was a horribly difficult chance, and really the only way of scoring was to execute a Platt-against-Belgium swivelling volley only with his left foot, and he didn’t do anything like that.
3 mins: Youssef en-Nesyri runs onto a long header but shoots wide, and is miles offside anyway.
1 min: A first effort on goal comes from Jimenez, 37 seconds into the game, but his header from Traore’s cross is weak, and Bounou collects.
1 min: Peeeeeeep! Wolves get the game under way, immediately pumping it down the right for Adama Traore to fight for.
Updated
Right then. The preamble has been completed, and it’s time for football.
On top of everything else, Conor Coady can shout remarkably loud. "Let's do what we do!" he booms before kickoff. True captain-grade hollerin'
— Paul Doyle (@Paul_Doyle) August 11, 2020
The players are on their way out. Well, Sevilla’s substitutes are, and the rest will follow shortly.
I fear that Leander Dendoncker hasn’t fully honed his face-mask chops.
“Am I the only one grinning dumbly at the Sevilla goalkeeper’s name?” ponders Ezra Finkelstein. Um, possibly. It’s like someone wasn’t sure whether to name someone after Bono or U2 and eventually decided to just add two Us to Bono’s name and consider all bases covered.
Talking of grinning dumbly at names, Marina Hyde’s rechristening of Dominic Cummings as “our own Otto von Jizzmark” has had me chuckling for about five hours now.
Here are the teams again in plain text form, for those who can’t see embedded Twitter nonsense:
Wolverhampton: Rui Patricio, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Dendoncker, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Vinagre, Neves, Traore, Jimenez. Subs: Bruno Jordao, Pedro Neto, Gibbs-White, Jota, Ruddy, Campana, Kilman, Rasmussen, Sondergaard, Marques, Richards.
Sevilla: Bounou, Jesus Navas, Kounde, Diego Carlos, Reguilon, Banega, Fernando, Jordan, Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Suso. Subs: Vaclik, Sergi Gomez, Munir, Escudero, de Jong, Torres, Franco Vazquez, Mena, Alonso, Diaz, Genaro, Perez.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
Here’s PA Media’s red-hot take on the teams:
Nuno Espirito Santo made two changes as Wolves faced Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-finals. Ruben Vinagre came in for the injury Jonny Otto in Duisburg, where suspended Daniel Podence was replaced by Leander Dendoncker. Adama Traore started in attack alongside Raul Jimenez, while Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui stuck with the same side that beat Roma last week.
And here’s Sevilla’s side:
🚨 #SevillaFC starting XI 🆚 @Wolves:
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) August 11, 2020
Bono - Jesús Navas, Koundé, Diego Carlos, Reguilón - Fernando, Jordán, Banega, Ocampos, Suso - En-Nesyri. #WeareSevilla #UEL pic.twitter.com/vMcmfFAwj1
Crikey, Wolves have already announced their line-up. And here it is:
Here's how Wolves line-up for tonight's @EuropaLeague quarter-final tie against @SevillaFC_ENG. #WOLSEV
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 11, 2020
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/lc5jNIAju9
Hello world!
In a couple of hours’ time we could be preparing for an all-English Europa League semi-final, with Manchester United having already booked their spot in the first final four fixture, scheduled for Sunday, while Internazionale will play either Shakhtar Donetsk or Basel in Monday’s other game. To make that happen Wolves will have to get past Europa League specialists Sevilla, who have not been beaten by anybody in any competition since Pione Sisto grabbed a stoppage-time winner for Celta Vigo waaaay back in February. The Spaniards come into the game having won six of their last seven, culminating in last Thursday’s 2-0 win over Roma in this very stadium, a run that saw them finish fourth in La Liga, behind Atletico Madrid only on goal difference (they drew both games against Atleti, so their head-to-head record was identical).
With the special Germany-based single-match format it’ll be decided tonight, one way or another. “It will be like a final for us and for Sevilla,” says Nuno Espirito Santo. “I hope we can go through to the semis.” So, like a quarter-final then.
Weather update: Duisburg has been a raging inferno today, with temperatures topping out at 34C, but it might rain tonight, with my meteorological source telling me there’s a 44% chance of a downpour. Of course, as Willy Boly demonstrates here, the players can always make their own:
